Skains enjoys solid day in Friday split in Irvine
IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University volleyball team continued its solid early-season play by splitting a pair of matches against quality competition on Friday at the Asics/Wyndham Labor Day Tournament hosted by Concordia University-Irvine. The Bulldogs dropped a competitive straight-sets loss to No. 22 Vanguard University (Calif.) before completing the day with a 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17 win over Westminster College (Utah).
Head coach Scott Mattera’s Bulldogs are 2-1 overall entering Saturday’s second and final day of the event in The Golden State.
In the early-morning match, Concordia played the nationally-ranked Lions closely in all three sets. Mattera especially liked his team’s play after facing a 20-11 deficit in the third set. That’s when sophomore Tiegen Skains shined in leading the Bulldogs on an 8-0 run that gave them a fighting chance.
“It was an amazingly intense match against Vanguard,” Mattera said. “We played really good volleyball just couldn't catch a break and couldn't find a way at the end. (Mariah) Schamp and Taylor (Workman) were unstoppable when we were in system and all the other hitters had their moments as well.
“We've got to be excited with how tough we played them but we are also disappointed in that we know we missed a chance to get a marquee win on a national stage. I’m very happy about our comeback in the third game triggered by some awesome net play by Tiegen Skains.”
Skains, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., contributed on five-straight points during the third-set spurt. She assisted on three-straight blocks and then powered down a kill that got Concordia within 20-17. The two teams then traded blows down the stretch until Vanguard’s Kelly Dalrymple notched match point with an ace.
Schamp led the way in match No. 1 with 10 kills from the middle. Alayna Kavanaugh dished out 27 assists and Claire White dug out 15 attacks. Skains chipped in four kills and three blocks. As a team, Concordia hit .138 compared to .172 for Vanguard.
In its afternoon contest, Concordia rebounded with a four-set triumph over Westminster. Again showing their balanced attack, the Bulldogs got contributions from up and down the roster. Paige Getz and Kelsey Dinkel topped the squad with 11 kills apiece while Alayna Kavanaugh came up with 33 assists.
“The second match was pretty disjointed,” Mattera said. “Westminster is extremely well-coached defensively and kind of awkward to defend. We didn't handle the hot gyms very well and played kind of tired. That being said, we figured out ways to win and got one on the board against a historically good program. We had a very well spread offense with all seven players who saw the front row getting five kills or more.”
In addition, the Bulldogs got 10 digs or more from three players: Carli Smith (19), Kavanaugh (12) and Kendra Dinkel (10). Continuing a nice day, Skains posted eight kills on 19 swings. Concordia bumped its collective hitting percentage up to .196 in the day’s second match.
Westminster, a member of the Frontier Conference who equaled Concordia’s 17-14 record in 2013, got a match-high kill total of 13 from Alyse Horton despite falling to 3-3 overall.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday in Irvine. Ratings-wise, they get their most difficult challenge of the season at 12 p.m. PDT/2 p.m. CDT when they take on tournament host and second-ranked Concordia University-Irvine. Mattera’s club finishes its California road trip at 6 p.m. PDT/8 p.m. CDT with Hope International University (Calif.).
